Guarding our Joy

A few years ago, I got an early-morning call from my credit card company. They noticed unusual spending on my account and wanted to confirm whether the charges were mine.

The caller asked if I had spent $1,300 at a hardware store. I wondered if they had reached the right person. Anyone who knows me knows I don't usually spend money at hardware stores. Then she asked about a $1,400 charge at a pool supply store in California, along with several others totaling nearly $3,500.

I had not been to California. I had not made those purchases. My card had been compromised, and someone was trying to use my identity for their own gain. The company canceled the card and helped protect my account.

We know the damage identity theft can cause. But another kind of theft requires our attention: the gradual loss of our sense of who we are and the joy that grows from living in that truth.

Scripture describes the enemy as a thief who comes to steal, kill, and destroy. That doesn't mean we should blame every hardship or disappointment on the enemy. Life is complicated, and pain is real. But we do need to recognize the voices and pressures that draw us away from God’s truth and leave us feeling less loved, less valuable, or less hopeful.

The messages can sound familiar:

• “You don’t have what they have, so you’re falling behind.”
• “You don’t look like that, so you’re not enough.”
• “You haven’t achieved enough, so you don’t matter.”

Over time, those messages can shape how we see ourselves. They can quietly steal our joy by convincing us that our worth depends on what we own, how we look, or what we accomplish.

But we don't have to earn our identity. Ephesians 2:10 reminds us that we are God’s handiwork, created with purpose. Psalm 139 tells us that God knows us completely and has been present in the making of our lives. These truths do not erase every struggle, but they give us something steady to return to when other voices try to define us.

That is why David’s prayer in Psalm 139 still speaks so clearly: “Search me, God, and know my heart.” He invites God to examine him, reveal what is pulling him away from the life God desires, and lead him in the lasting way.

We can make that our prayer too: God, help me recognize the voices that are shaping me. Show me where I have believed a lie about my worth. Guard the identity you have given me, and lead me back to the joy of living as your beloved child.

Jesus came to bring us back to God. Sin distorts our understanding of who God is and who we are, but through the cross and resurrection, Jesus offers forgiveness, grace, and restored life. Our standing with God rests on what Christ has done, not on our ability to prove ourselves.

Joy does not mean pretending that life is easy. It means remembering, even in difficult seasons, that God holds our lives and our worth is not up for sale. We can ask God to keep shaping our hearts, to help us resist what steals our hope, and to anchor us again in the identity we have received through Jesus.